If We Legalize Weed In America, We'll Have To Deal With A Lot More Of These People
And this is just the FUNNY(?) stuff.
Legalizing marijuana is a DEADLY SERIOUS, EXISTENTIAL CHOICE, not just the expression of a recreational preference.
But let's play fair, and weigh public health issues: Think, how do we treat alcoholics and liquor store owners, smokers and cigarette makers (philosophically, legally). Do we lock up or fine social drinkers?
Or those addicted to tobacco/nicotine--and virtually every cigarette smoker I know is tragically an "addict," and wishes desperately they could stop, and avoid the inevitable health consequences of long term smoking. Alcoholism ruins lives/families and costs millions in lost hours at work.
Alcohol and tobacco are both legal--and that's not likely to change any time soon. How happy are we about that societal choice, and the reality underlying it. Do we want to ADD to the legal list?
I get the economic argument. Legalization would take the PROFIT out of drug dealing—could help put dealers out of business, DE-incentivize dealing, and the web of violent crime that it spawns.
What worries me is the States and municipalities who see marijuana as just one more part of their income stream--a happy, "harmless" boost for tax revenues. Kind of like Hollywood, who lets the jingle of the cash register drown out any discussion of the impact movies have on society and morals.
I do sympathize with those who find medical marijuana useful in the treatment of ailments.
Still you’ve got to stop and think what a generation of kids (and adults) would be doing to themselves, would be doing to their life prospects, for serious effort, work, school, relationships, giving back to the world around them. Low expectations, low energy, low social involvement. And a permanent manana outlook (Do it tomorrow, or never). That’s the spin off I see.
And, despite the apparent “solidarity” and bonding that you might think would flow from smoking pot in groups, the reality is that true social interaction is almost non-existent--something that mostly disappears when folks zone into themselves and their own high.
Most of the pot heads I've known are good, nice, "happy" folks, who don't make trouble, wouldn't hurt a flea, though they can be kinda preoccupied with their habit and happiness. And many mix pot with alcohol and other drugs, that can cause problems.
But is certainly not all Kumbaya and smiley faces--"make peace, not war."
Users tell you there is no down side to marijuana—but consider the source. They are wholly unaware of the low level, “off the radar” effects of smoking, something they only realize, if they slow down or stop.
Some kinda get the "do it tomorrow" attitude--"Oh, that's why I never washed the dishes, left 'em in the sink for days!" (How does his play out on the job--how "hireable are smokers?)
Most can tell you that it effects short term memory--maddening to walk into a room, and you can't remember what you came there for.
It is not chemically addictive as nicotine in cigarettes. But is socially, culturally “addictive”—easy to start, hard to end.
While weed IS physically, emotionally way more benign, less harmful, than the two legal drugs of choice, alcohol and tobacco, you gotta think long and hard whether "more of same" is good policy.
RETHINK
Okay, I've been listening to what I said, and it could sound pretty tough--even unfeeling. It is not aimed at any one person, is not a slam at all.
People very dear to my heart still live in this world--some happily, some not so much. And maybe you have friends there, too. This fact does not change my love for them--at all--or for anyone.
Nor my feelings for the many friends of my sons and others I got to know while I was foster parenting. That was a good life.
But I saw a lot of suffering, too. And I just wanted to share what little I may have learned, to add to the public debate on legalization. There's a lot of ignorance and naive chit chat.
I'm talking about public policy, not individual choices. People should be free to live as they want, so long as they cause no harm to others, don't put them at risk--even if we don't all agree with the choices that people make. Don't drive while you're impaired, for instance. Most users would agree to common sense rules.
It's a little like Prohibition in the the 1920's. People WILL continue to smoke pot, and why not? It's way less destructive than our currently legal "drugs of choice," tobacco and alcohol.
Law enforcement would love nothing better than to get out of the business of policing non-violent, non-harmful behavior in private. They have way better things to do with shrinking enforcement dollars, and manpower. Legalizing frees prison space for violent offenders, vs. mostly non-violent drug users.
And maybe this takes some of the PROFIT out of now illegal drug sales.
DE-CRIMINALIZING the possession of small amounts of marijuana for private use is a reasonable middle ground that is working in some places. It accepts the basic choice to smoke, and replaces criminal fines and jail time, with civil penalties, drug education/treatment. But it also stops short of sanctioning pot use.
ADDICTION is not something to be taken lightly, whatever the level. It can disrupt the lives of our sons, daughters, friends, spouses, partners. Not trivial. Nor are other behavioral issues.
So, that's all I'm asking. Take a SERIOUS, COMPREHENSIVE look, ALL the consequences, obvious and less so. And craft a policy that is both fair and takes a stand about encouraging or discouraging use.
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